The Originals - Revenant

Chapter 5

»»-—1492, Yorkshire, England—-««

I can help you escape.

What was I thinking? That she would say 'no'? That I could just live my life as if nothing ever happened? No, there was only one way this could end up, and that was with someone getting hurt. My options were either Niklaus or Katerina. I really didn't want to hurt Nik, but where he had eternity to heal, Katerina's human life was fragile and ephemeral. I just hoped he would understand with time the reasons why I did it, even though I didn't fully understand them myself.

I wanted to honour Henrik's death, to prove that he had not helped me in vain, that he had granted me another chance at life and I would not waste it. And standing idle while Katerina suffered for the same reasons I once did felt wrong, like spitting at Henrik's memory.

And so, I decided to help her. No matter what.

Katerina and I spent days planning her escape, waiting for the perfect moment to do it. I took her for long strolls in the evenings and we would discuss the plan. In merely three days we had figured everything out: she was to flee in the middle of the night next week, a month before Nik's ritual, and travel south to catch a boat that would take her to the mainland. After that, she would hide in France. I made her memorize it from beginning to end, what roads to take, where was safe to rest for the night and where was not. Then I would compel her to forget our conversation until our next meeting, this way she was oblivious about the ritual until she and I were alone once again. It was just a precaution so my brothers didn't discover us.

"But, Beyla," Katerina had asked me once, "Won't Klaus hurt you if you help me escape?"

I had smiled at her with sadness. "Do not worry about that, Katerina," I told her, "I can take care of myself."

Of course Nik would hurt me. I knew that after this I would have to put up with his punishment for a very long time, it was a very precarious situation I was putting myself in. But it wasn't about me, I wasn't doing this for me, or so I told myself many times. It was for Katerina. It was for Henrik.

But Katerina shook her head.

"I won't leave if I know it will put you in danger," she said.

I looked at her frowning in confusion.

"Katerina, better he hurt me than you," I said. I was a vampire, a strong one for that matter, I could take Nik's tantrum, but Katerina couldn't. "Now you have to watch out for yourself. Remember that."

She then looked down, preoccupied. "I will," she told me, "But only if you're there to remind me."

I tilted my head.

"Come with me," she proposed excited, "I will be safer if you're with me and he won't hurt you if he can't catch you."

I gaped a couple of times, tempted to agree, but, instead, only a faint 'no' came out.

I couldn't go with her. My mission was to get her out of here but I had made a promise to myself that this time I would stay, and it was a promise I was determined to keep.

Katerina looked disappointed, she wanted me to be safe but running away was something that I was conflicted about this time. My brain was screaming at me to get away but my heart was aching to stay. I decided to listen to my heart, no matter what.

But Katerina was very persistent. If she couldn't make me run away with her she was determined to keep me safe in the wolf's den: she decided that what I needed was someone to take the blame for me.

"Trevor," she offered.

Trevor was one of my own, a young vampire from my own sireline. Using him as a shield to hide behind seemed wrong but after arguing about it for some time I realized, Katerina was right. Family was everything and, by doing this, I could lose mine. I had to protect myself. Trevor had to fall. He had already lived more than one lifetime, and he was the perfect candidate: he was young and naïve and I could easily manipulate him into helping Katerina.

Only, poor Rose, his only friend, would be devastated by his loss. But time heals all wounds, and time was something she would definitely have, being a vampire.

Trevor was, indeed, the perfect candidate.

I started to talk to him on a daily basis after that, I would drop comments from time to time, saying how Katerina was always looking at him and that I was completely sure that she loved him. I convinced him that they were a meant-to-be couple and he eventually thought so too. He was gullible that way.

It got to the point where he actually believed he was utterly in love with Katerina. They say that if you tell yourself a lie many times, you end up believing it. He did. And Katerina would play her part perfectly, answering all his advances. He was so deep into the lie he was outraged when I told him what Niklaus planned to do, and I only had to suggest him that it would be possible to help her escape her death if someone was willing to do it.

The very night I told him that, he left in a hurry. I knew what he was going to do. He was going to help her escape, and I only had to use my words. Before they left I found her and got a chance to say goodbye.

"Niklaus will come for you, Katerina," I told her, "You must never stop running."

She nodded, understanding how much her life was about to change. She may survive the ritual, but now she had to survive Niklaus' retaliation.

"Take care of yourself," I told her, "And live a long life."

She listened very carefully to what I told her that night.

A couple of hours later the whole mansion woke up: Katerina had fled, nobody knew where to. Elijah led the search party, which was formed by vampires that wanted to gain favour with the Mikaelsons. Trevor joined them, leading them away from Katerina's trail as best he could.

Niklaus stayed in the mansion, Elijah forced him, thinking that he might hurt Katerina if he found her, and he spent the night destroying his library. I kept watch from the other room, only seeing a faint light that escaped from underneath the library's door and hearing the ruckus. I was terrified, I thought he would put the pieces together anytime. He didn't.

Against all my prayers, Katerina died that night. But because of a strange turn of events, she was also reborn. She was turned into a vampire and she ran. She escaped. She survived.

Trevor was caught alongside Rose and they were brought back to the mansion. Rose confessed to Trevor's stupidity, thinking that honesty would save them, but it only gave them a head start to run.

Elijah was the one who heard their excuses and spared them, and then he spent hours discussing with Niklaus what to do, but I knew it was too late, Katerina was long gone. And, apparently, I hadn't been caught.

I stepped over to the gardens to escape the argument of the brothers. I was slightly proud of myself. It could have gone better, Katerina was supposed to live a human life. But a vampiric life was still better than none at all.

I hugged my torso with one hand and grabbed my pendant with the other, and I wondered if, even so, Henrik would be happy. I remembered how Henrik had tied the pendant around my neck for the first time. A friend of his, the witch Ayanna, had gifted it to me back when I was human, saying that it would protect me. I just wished I had given Katerina something similar, but I hadn't thought about it before. Maybe if I had, she wouldn't have died. It couldn't be helped now.

"Beyla," I heard Elijah calling me. I turned around and saw him walking towards me. I turned serious. He had a weird look on his face, like guilt. Why did he feel guilty?

"Elijah?" I urged him to tell me what was going on.

Elijah stopped some feet away from me. He narrowed his eyes, analysing my features. I fidgeted, still clutching the pendant. He was making me feel scrutinized, it was uncomfortable.

"What is wrong?" I asked anxiously.

He opened his mouth to answer but before he could do so, I heard Niklaus shouting my name from inside the house. I looked towards the garden's door and saw him come out to the stairs, glaring at me, clutching the thick marvel handrail. He was rabid, I could tell.

"He knows," was all Elijah said.

I'm dead, was all I could think.

»»———— - - - ————««

As I'm editing this, I'm re-reading it and I can't help but feel anxious for Beyla. Even though I already know what's going to happen! Wow... What do you think? Tell me all about it!